Cell-allocation in location-selective information provision systems

ABSTRACT

Systems and methods for allocating cells within a virtual grid to content providers according to various priority and selection schemes are used to target content delivery to information playback devices in a geographically and/or application selective manner. The priority schemes, geographical selectivity, and application selectivity of the system and methods of the invention allow a content provider to specifically target a desired demographic with high cost efficiency and flexibility.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present application is a divisional application of U.S.nonprovisional patent application Ser. No. 13/220,018 filed on Aug. 29,2011, which is a continuation-in-part under 35 U.S.C. §120 of co-pendingInternational Patent Application No. PCT/US10/026017, filed on Mar. 3,2010, which designated the United States and claims the priority ofprovisional patent applications Ser. Nos. 61/157,224 and 61/173,264filed on Mar. 4, 2009 and Apr. 28, 2009, respectively.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The invention relates generally to information communication methods andsystems. More particularly, the invention relates to methods and systemsfor allocating content provision rights to discrete geographical areas(cells) defined by a virtual grid to content providers in a system forproviding information to information playback devices in a locationand/or application-specific manner.

BACKGROUND

The last two decades have seen a revolution in how information such asnews, advertising, or other content is transmitted to viewers over longdistances. With the widespread use of the internet and informationplayback devices such as computers, electronic billboards, globalpositioning devices, and cellular telephones, the volume of informationthat is provided to individuals is expanding quickly. With so muchinformation available, content providers are grappling with the problemof how to efficiently organize and transmit information to thedemographic most likely to use it.

SUMMARY

The invention relates to the development of systems and methods forallocating cells within a virtual grid to content providers according tovarious priority and selection schemes. The cell-allocation systems andmethods can be used to target content delivery to information playbackdevices in a geographically and/or application selective manner. Thepriority schemes, geographical selectivity, and application selectivityof the system and methods of the invention allow a content provider tospecifically target a desired geo-location with high cost efficiency andflexibility. The systems and methods of the invention are advantageousin that they are accessible to content providers having limited to vastresources, can selectively provide real-time relevant information to atargeted location, and can use a bidding process that reducesinefficiencies.

The cell-allocation systems and methods according to the invention areparticularly well-suited for use in information provision systems thatinclude a location tracking system used in conjunction with acomputer-implemented virtual grid system that divides a geographicalarea into discrete virtual cells to transmit information to theinformation playback devices according to their location and,optionally, in an application-specific manner. In one embodiment, themethods and systems of the invention can be used to allocate cellswithin a virtual grid for the purpose of allowing an advertiser totarget a first specific advertisement to all properly configuredcellular telephones (e.g., Apple's iPhones) located in a first cell thatopen a specific application (e.g., web browser or other application suchas a game or utility), while simultaneously targeting a second specificadvertisement to all properly configured cellular telephones that arelocated in a second cell other than the first cell that open a specificapplication.

The priority scheme of the cell-allocation systems and methods of theinvention might employ an auction where one or more potential contentproviders bid on a given cell, or time slot or application within agiven cell. An auction might, e.g., be in the form of an Englishauction, a Dutch auction, a sealed first-price auction, a Vickeryauction, a buyout auction, or a combinatorial auction. The auction canbe one with or without a reserve. For cells not allocated to a payingcontent provider, application developers can be given use of the cellsfor advertising their applications with little or no charge. Aninformation playback device user selecting an application advertisementcan be redirected to the application which can include one or morepay-per-click advertisements supplied by the cell-allocation system'sowner. Revenue from such pay-per-click advertising can be shared by theapplication's owner and the cell-allocation system's owner.

In the system for selectively targeting content to information playbackdevices, the location of target information playback devices can beobtained using a location tracking system such as a global positioningsystem (GPS), cellular telephone communications network, WI-FI, or othersystem that tracks positions of devices according to latitude andlongitude. The device's location can be transmitted to a server (e.g.,over the internet and/or other communication network, using WI-FI or acellular telephone communications network). Software on the serverrelates an information playback device's physical location to acorresponding location (e.g., a cell) on the virtual grid, and thencauses the transmission of location-specific information (e.g., atargeted advertisement) via a wireless communication network (e.g., acellular telephone communications network or WI-FI) to the informationplayback device using the devices' IP address or other suitableidentifier.

This process can be performed for all the suitably configuredinformation playback devices in a given cell within the virtual gridsuch that information can be selectively targeted to all the informationplayback devices in the cell. This process can also be performedsimultaneously for multiple different cells (e.g., for at least 10; 100;1,000; 10,000, or 100,000 cells) such that multiple different sets ofinformation are targeted in a location-selective manner to the differentcells in the system. Thus, moving an information playback device fromone area to another can cause the information transmitted to the deviceto change. Although not required, the process can occur only inconjunction with an information playback device user's activation of aspecific application or accessing a predetermined webpage.

Accordingly, in one aspect, the invention features a system including atleast one server communicatively connected to a communications network;software installed on the at least one server and capable of: dividing ageographical area into a virtual grid including a plurality of cells,accepting bids for a cell within the plurality of cells from at least afirst content provider and a second content provider, uploading contentsubmitted from the content provider submitting a winning bid for thecell; and transmitting at least a portion of the uploaded content to aninformation playback device located in the cell, e.g., in a locationand/or application specific manner.

In another aspect, the invention features a computer readable mediumincluding software for: dividing a geographical area into a virtual gridincluding a plurality of cells, accepting bids for a cell within theplurality of cells from at least a first content provider and a secondcontent provider, uploading content submitted from the content providersubmitting a winning bid for the cell; and transmitting at least aportion of the uploaded content to an information playback devicelocated in the cell, e.g., in a location and/or application specificmanner.

Also within the invention is a method including the steps of: dividing ageographical area into a virtual grid including a plurality of cells;accepting bids for a cell within the plurality of cells from at least afirst content provider and a second content provider; uploading contentsubmitted from the content provider submitting a winning bid for thecell; and transmitting at least a portion of the uploaded content to aninformation playback device located in the cell.

Unless otherwise defined, all technical terms used herein have the samemeaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art towhich this invention belongs. Although methods and materials similar orequivalent to those described herein can be used in the practice ortesting of the present invention, suitable methods and materials aredescribed below. All publications, patent applications, patents andother references mentioned herein are incorporated by reference in theirentirety. In the case of conflict, the present specification, includingdefinitions will control.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a schematic representation of the location-based communicationsystem being used by an information playback device user.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The invention provides systems and methods for allocating cells within avirtual grid to content providers according to various priority andselection schemes. The cell allocation systems and methods can be usedin a system for communicating information to information playbackdevices in a location- and/or application-selective manner. Theinformation communicated can be advertising in text, graphics, pinpoints(which identify a certain area on the map that will interact with thegrid), photographs, visuals, video and/or audio. Nonetheless theinvention can be used to communicate any type of information including,without limitation, data, coupons, incentives, offers, promotions,sales, savings, free standing inserts, blogs, micro-blogs, tweets,pinpoints, bar codes, public announcements, emergency alerts, notes,action triggers, listings, and the like.

The method and systems described herein can be used to create a marketfor virtual fixed cells through bidding (e.g., option of cost per batch,cost per click, and/or cost per action) in order to place content suchas advertisements, information, offers, incentives, coupons, andpromotions. Auctioning a uniquely identified virtual cell (or set ofcells) with a computerized electronic database of mapping records on acommunications network (e.g., the Internet) can include creating aunique ID identifying the available cell to be bid on, generating anidentification code to uniquely identify the cell, and then schedulingplacement for the content to be placed in the cell. Cells can bepresented for auction (bid) to an audience of participants through aworldwide web mapping module executing in conjunction with acomputerized database. Bids can be received on the item fromparticipants (e.g., content providers, companies, government entities,or individuals) through a communications network such as the Internetthrough a process that executes in conjunction with the computerizedfixed coordinates database of mapping records.

A database-implemented electronic market system can include a datarepository storing information corresponding to an inventory of one ormore available cells within a virtual billboard grid and an electronicmarket (e.g., advertisers) that provides advertisements, coupons,incentives, sales, pinpoints, blogs, micro-blogs, Tweets, promotions orother information to the inventory of one or more items in the datarepository. The systems described herein can utilize an interactivelinkage between a search engine, content, and fixed cells available on acomputer or wireless network. For example, in response to a searchrequest at a search engine, a reference pointer (e.g., a cell within thevirtual billboard grid, and/or in relation to the system's database) todynamic information or content corresponding to the search request canbe returned.

Various aspects of the invention may be embodied as a system, method, orcomputer program product (e.g., embodied in one or more computerreadable media having computer readable program code embodied thereon),and might be in the form of hardware, software, or a combination ofsoftware and hardware. Computer readable media may be a computerreadable signal medium (e.g., an electronic, magnetic, optical,electromagnetic, infrared, or semiconductor system, apparatus, ordevice, or any suitable combination of the foregoing) or a computerreadable storage medium (e.g., an electrical connection having one ormore wires, a portable computer diskette, a hard disk, a random accessmemory (RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), an erasable programmableread-only memory (EPROM or Flash memory), an optical fiber, a portablecompact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM), an optical storage device, amagnetic storage device, or any suitable combination of the foregoing).

A computer readable signal medium may include a propagated data signalwith computer readable program code embodied therein, for example, inbaseband or as part of a carrier wave. Such a propagated signal may takeany of a variety of forms, including, but not limited to,electro-magnetic, optical, or any suitable combination thereof. Acomputer readable signal medium may be any computer readable medium thatis not a computer readable storage medium and that can communicate,propagate, or transport a program for use by or in connection with aninstruction execution system, apparatus, or device.

Program code embodied on a computer readable medium may be transmittedusing any appropriate medium, including but not limited to wireless,wireline, optical fiber cable, RF, etc., or any suitable combination ofthe foregoing. Computer program code for carrying out operations foraspects of the present invention may be written in any combination ofone or more programming languages, including an object-orientedprogramming language such as Java, Smalltalk, C++, and proceduralprogramming languages such as C. The program code may execute entirelyon a user's computer, entirely on the remote computer or server, orpartly on a user's computer and partly on a remote computer or server. Aremote computer may communicate with a user's computer through any typeof communications network, e.g., a local area network, a wide areanetwork, or the Internet.

Systems for Selectively Communicating Information

Referring now to FIG. 1, in an exemplary embodiment, the systems andmethods for allocating cells can be performed in conjunction with asystem 100 for communicating information to an information playbackdevice 102 in a location-selective manner. The system 100 forcommunicating information to an information playback device 102 in alocation-selective manner can include a location tracking system 104 fordetermining the geographical location of the information playback device102 (e.g., in terms of latitude and longitude) which can include theinformation playback device 102 which can be configured to transmitsignals to the location tracking system and receive signals from anexternal source, a transceiver 106 for receiving positional informationfrom the location tracking system 104, a server 108 in communicationwith the transceiver 106 and including mapping software and software forcreating a virtual grid, a set of information stored in a database 110on the server 108, and a transmitter 112 in communication with theserver 108 and capable of transmitting the set of information to theinformation playback device 102 in a location-selective manner. Each ofthe foregoing components can be included in multiplicity, e.g., theinvention may include one or more computers, information playbackdevices, location tracking systems, transceivers, different sets ofinformation, and transmitters. The mapping software and virtual gridcreating software may be installed on one or more of the servers (thatmay be networked). The information playback device 102 can becommunicatively connected to the location tracking system.

The location tracking system 104 can be any system capable ofdetermining the geographical location of an information playback device.For example, the location tracking system can be a GPS (e.g., the NAVSTRGPS) or a triangulation system that determines a devices location by thestrength of its signals as measured by multiple signal monitors (e.g.,cell towers or WI-FI transceivers). In some cases, the positionalinformation obtained by the location tracking system 104 might roundcoordinates to less specific locations or otherwise use fuzzy logicprocessing to reduce the specificity of the specific positional data.

The information playback device 102 can be any suitable device capableof conveying information to a user, transmitting positional informationto the location tracking system 104 and receiving information sent fromthe transmitter 112. The information playback device 102 can be portableor stationary (e.g., fixed in place such that it is difficult to move).Examples of such devices include cellular telephones, personal digitalassistants, satellite television transceivers, satellite radios, devicesconnected to a wireless computer network, computers (e.g., netbook andnotebook computers), fixed digital billboards, wrist watches and MP3players with wireless communication capability, transit digitalbillboards and or devices, and GPS navigation devices.

The transceiver 106 for receiving positional information from thelocation tracking system 104 can take the form of any device capable ofreceiving a signal from the information playback device 102 andconveying such signal to the server 108. Thus the transceiver 106 can bea device that includes an antenna, modulates and demodulates signals,and converts such signals from one form to another. The transceiver 106might operate over wired and/or wireless communication networks. As anexample, the transceiver 106 can be configured to communicate data viaIEEE 802 wireless communications (e.g., 802.11, 802.16, WPA, WPA2, TDMA,CDMA, WCDMA, GSM, GPRS, UTMS, 3G, 4G, EUTAN, UMB, OFDM, or LTE systems).The transceiver 106 might also be configured to communicate over awireless communication link using a communication protocol such asTCP/IP. In some embodiments, the transceiver 106 can be integrated intothe information playback device 102 itself. In addition, hard-wireddevices could be used, e.g., a network of roadside billboards eachassigned an individual code that can be transmitted.

The server 108 can be a computer or set of computers running one or morecomputer programs such as a mapping program and/or a program forcreating a virtual grid that divides a given geographical area into twoor more discrete cells. The server 108 can be in communication with thetransceiver 106 and transmitter 112. The server 108 might also include amemory store that stores data corresponding to information (e.g.,advertising) which can be transmitted to the information playback device102, which can be remotely located (e.g., 1, 2, 5, 10, 50, 100, 500 ormore km) from the server 108. The information stored in the memory storemight include audio and/or visual data. The mapping software can be anyprogram capable of running on the server 108 and processing positionaldata of the information playback device 102. The virtual grid softwarecan be any program that can divide a given geographical area into atleast two discrete (or in some cases overlapping) virtual cells 114. Forexample, the entire planet Earth, a country, a continent, a city, or aregion may be overlaid with a virtual grid 116 generated by thesoftware. In an exemplary embodiment, each of the plurality of cells 114can be a regular or irregular polygon (e.g., a quadrangle, a square, arectangle, a rhombus, a triangle, a pentagon, a hexagon, or an octagon)defining an area of greater than or equal to 0.1, 0.5, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6,7, 8, 9, 10, 15, 25, 50, 75, 100, 200, 300, 400, 500, 1000 or moresquare km. In other embodiments of the system, each cell of the virtualgrid 116 can have an area of about 0.25 km by 0.25 km, 0.5 km by 0.5 km,0.75 km by 0.75 km, 0.5 km by 1 km, 1 km by 1 km, 1.5 km by 1.5 km, 1 kmby 2 km, 2 km by 2 km, 1 km by 3 km, 5 km by 5 km, 10 km by 10 km, 25 kmby 25 km, 50 km by 50 km, or 100 km by 100 km. In another embodiment,each of the plurality of cells 114 can be defined by longitude andlatitude degrees such as greater than or equal to 0.0001, 0.001, 0.01,0.1, 1, or 2 degrees longitude by 0.0001, 0.001, 0.01, 0.1, 1, or 2degrees latitude. The cells 114 may also be non-polygonal, of differentsizes and/or shapes, and/or defined by population size (e.g., 1000-2000;2000-3000; 3000-5000; 5000-10,000; 10,000-25,000; 25,000-50,000,50,000-100,000; or greater than 100,000 people in each cell).

The transmitter 112 can be communicatively connected to the server 108and can be capable of transmitting a signal embodying the information tobe sent to the information playback device 102. The information istransmitted to information playback devices that are physically locatedwithin the cell or cells 114 of the virtual grid 116 being targeted byan advertiser or other information provider 118. For example, theinformation provider 118 could choose to deploy targeted information toinformation playback devices located in a particular neighborhood orcity. In another example, the advertiser could target information tocells located in the path of a cruise ship so that the information canbe received by information playback devices aboard the cruise ship. Instill another example, the information playback device 102 could be asatellite radio, GPS navigation system, or electronic billboardinstalled in an automobile.

In an exemplary embodiment, the systems and methods of the invention canbe used to selectively target advertisements to an information playbackdevice located in a particular cell, optionally in anapplication-specific manner. Upon turning on the information playbackdevice 102 or opening a particular application in the informationplayback device 102, a signal is transmitted from the informationplayback device 102 to the location tracking system 104. The locationtracking system 104 converts the signal from the information playbackdevice 102 to data corresponding to the physical location of theinformation playback device 102. The data corresponding to the physicallocation of the information playback device 102 is then transmitted tothe server 108 (e.g., via a transceiver such as the information playbackdevice itself). The server 108 processes this data and assigns theinformation playback device 102 to a cell 114 a in the virtual grid 116.The server 108 also causes a signal embodying the advertisement to betransmitted to the information playback device 102 which then convertsthe signal to an audio and/or visual file that is played on theinformation playback device 102 to generate the advertisement. Theinformation may be displayed as “pop-up” type information. Theinformation might also be configured as a file that can be saved in amemory store on the information playback device 102 (e.g., a coupon orincentive that can be saved for use).

In an example, a mobile phone user may enter into a cell 114 a of thevirtual grid 116 where an advertiser has submitted a winning bid (e.g.,the highest monetary bid or a bid with the highest priority scorecalculated from a factor other than just a monetary amount). The systemprovider may offer placement of the information through an existingwebsite such as, for example, Facebook™. When the user accesses theFacebook™ website on the user's mobile phone, the advertiser'sinformation can be displayed, for example, in an information spacelocated at the top of the web page or in another location on the webpage.

In an exemplary embodiment, the user may be given several options tointeract with the information deployed through the system 100.Interactive options can include features permitting the user to view theadvertiser's location on a map, link to a web page associated with theinformation, view a video or audiovisual version of the information,listen to an audio-only version of the information, call a telephonenumber associated with the advertiser or with the information, share theinformation with another person, and/or save the content to a memorystore.

In one embodiment, the systems and methods of the invention utilizeintegrated media streaming to deliver location relevant information. Forexample, content providers can target various media streaming servicesto deliver advertisements/offers in a video and/or audio format (e.g.,MP3, WAV, AIFF, MOV, FLV, MPG, MV3, AVI, DIVX, and DVB formats). Videoresolutions can be, e.g., standard definition or high-definition. Audiogenre targeting can be: Alternative, Blues, Children's Music, Christian& Gospel, Classical, Comedy, Dance, Electronic, Fitness & Workout,Hip-Hop/Rap, Indie Spotlight, Jazz, Latino, Metal, Pop, R&B/Soul,Reggae, Rock, Singer/Songwriter, Soundtrack, Vocal, World and audiobooks. Video genre targeting can include: Action & Adventure, Animation& Cartoons, Comedy, Drama, Family, Food & Leisure, Home & Garden, Honor& Suspense, Music, News & Information, Other, Reality & Game Show,Science Fiction, Sports, Talk & Interview, Video-games, podcast and Web.Streaming services can include: iTunes, Lala, MySpace's Imeem, Hulu,mobile networks (such as CBS Mobile, ESPN Mobile, etc.), and devicessuch as Sirius Radio Devices, FLOTV Devices, Verizon VCAST, AT&T mobileTV, Tablets, and Audio Book Devices. Content delivery can occur after atrigger event or at predetermined time intervals and/or numericintervals (e.g., every 3 songs/videos or every 10 minutes), where theapplication acquires information playback device's 102 geographicalcoordinates and queries the database 110 to deliver the audio or videocontent with the highest bid in the relevant cell, and targets the genreof media the information playback device 102 is currently displaying.

As an example of a video streaming application, a user is watchingSaturday Night Live on a mobile Hulu application on the informationplayback device 102 while walking down the street in New York. Aftereach predetermined interval (e.g., every 10 minutes), the applicationwill determine the information playback device's 102 coordinates, andthe system's 100 code will interpret those coordinates, determine how itrelates to the virtual grid 116 to determine the user's current celllocation, and then serve the location appropriate video formattedadvertisement to the device as described above. As an example of anaudio streaming application, a user is listening to Alternative music onthe mobile Pandora application. After each predetermined interval (e.g.,every 3 songs), the application will determine the information playbackdevice's 102 coordinates, and the system's 100 code will interpret thosecoordinates, determine how it relates to the virtual grid 116 todetermine the user's current cell location, and then serve the locationappropriate audio formatted advertisement to the device as describedabove. Live broadcasts sent to the playback device 102, can include atrigger signal which instructs the system 100 to pause the broadcast andtransmit a location relevant advertisement that would play on the device102, which could be at predetermined intervals. The advertisement couldalso include a trigger signal which instructs to the system to resumethe broadcast on the device 102. The device 102 itself may be programmedto determine when content is played. In one embodiment, the system 100can be configured to display a banner image on the device 102 that isrelated to the audio or video advertisement playing on the device 102.

In another embodiment, the system 100 is configured to deliver locationrelevant brands in relation to category (e.g., by interacting withwebsites like Guvera). A user of the device 102 selects a brand thatwill pay for each piece of content (e.g., music, tv, or movie) searchedfor. A user then visits the brand's channels which provide access toother content of the same genre. In this embodiment, the system 100 canbe configured to not post advertisements on the device 102 that cannotbe clicked past. The system 100 can allow a content provider to create achannel, choose a content style for that channel, and choose whichtarget audience will be allowed to access that channel. These channelscan interact with the system 100 to granulize messages to the consumerand provide location targeting delivery or solutions. For example,Company X has a channel targeted towards females 21-25 in Chicago wholike dance music. Using the system 100, Company X can target thisdemographic and provide advertisements to appropriately located cellsthat encourage the users of the channel to visit Company X's stores(e.g., located in the selected cells).

Cell Allocation

The system 100 can provide online features to register for the system'sservices as well as features that permit content providers to add,manage, and remove their content campaigns. The system may also providefeatures that allow a content provider to place bids for informationplacements in particular cells or for a particular area selected by thecontent provider. Cells can be allocated to content providers accordingto various priority and selectivity schemes including those based on bidamounts, cell location, time/date slots, and target categories (e.g.,applications in selected areas of interest).

In a typical configuration of a cell-allocation system, a programrunning on a computer creates a virtual grid overlaying an area such asthe world or a country or region such as the United States of America,North America, Asia, South America, or Europe. Information placement inone or more cells within the virtual grid is offered to contentproviders. Upon acceptance of an offer, the cell allocation systempermits the cell or cells to be used by the selected content provider totransmit content to information playback devices within the cell orcells, e.g., in a location- and/or application-specific manner.

As an example, one or more (e.g., 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 10, 100, 1000 or more)content providers can place at least one bid for information placementrights within a bid area. The bid area can include one or more cells ofthe plurality of cells (e.g., a set of cells determined by a radius froma fixed position such as all cells within 10 km of location X). Awinning bid (e.g., a highest bid placed by a content provider) can beselected from among the bids submitted by the different contentproviders. The information of the content provider submitting thewinning bid can then be deployed within the bid area. A non-revenuegenerating developer application advertisement can be transmitted tothose cells lacking a paying advertiser. Deployment of information usingthis method may be accomplished via a software application installed onthe wireless device.

In one example of the cell-allocation system, a hierarchal method isused to allocate cells to content providers. In this example, if twocompanies (Company X and Company Y) are competing for the rights to thesame cell, variables used to decide the winner could include at leasttwo (e.g., 2, 3, 4, or 5) of: (a) the bid amount, (b) lowest schedulepriority number, (c) highest application priority number, (d) whichcompany made the first bid (timestamp), and (e) a budget range forbidding. Thus, in an example of a hierarchal method, the company withthe higher bid would win rights to the cell (e.g., Company X with a $3bid would prevail over Company Y with a $2 bid). If, however, the bidwas tied, then the system would consider each company's schedulepriority number. The schedule priority number correlates with the amountof total hours the advertiser wants to be displayed. The lower the totalhours bid on by a content provider, the higher the schedule prioritynumber that content provider will be assigned. Thus, if Company X wantsits content to be displayed all day, but Company Y wants its content tobe displayed only for a specific hour, rights to the cell at issue willbe given to Company Y for its selected hour and then to Company X forthe other time slots. This method is preferred where competing contentproviders allocate a limited budget to a time period, to minimize thechance that the content providers will use up their entire allocatedbudget.

In the case where two competing content providers make the same bid andhave the same schedule priority number, the system would then considereach content provider's application priority number. A contentprovider's application priority number correlates with the number ofdifferent application categories per cell it selects to bid on. Forexample, if the system provides 19 total application categories that acontent provider can choose from, the application priority number couldrange from 1 to 19 points (one point for each category selected). IfCompany X selects only 2 applications (an application priority number of2) and Company Y selects all 19 applications (an application prioritynumber of 19), then Company Y will win all the rights to the cell forthe selected time slot.

In the case where two competing content providers make the same bid, andhave the same schedule priority number and application priority number,the system would then consider each content provider's timestamp (timeof first bid). That is, if Company X submitted its bid an hour beforeCompany Y, Company X would be allocated rights to the cell and time slotat issue. In other examples of hierarchal methods, the winning bid to acell or set of cells can be determined by assigning different prioritiesto the bid-win criteria. For example, the priority of the criteria couldbe (a) the bid amount, (b) which company made the first bid (timestamp),(c) lowest schedule priority number, and then (d) highest applicationpriority number.

Another factor which might be used to determine a winning bid is thebudget range for bidding. The budget range for bidding entails a biddingcontent provider setting a bid budget range for the cells it selects. Bysetting a bid budget range on a cell or set of cells, a contentprovider's bid can be increased automatically (e.g., up to a maximumamount) if is about to lose the bid. For example, if Company X sets abid budget range of $0.50-0.75 and has a bid for a cell of $0.50, a bidof $0.51 by Company Y would cause Company X's bid to automaticallyincrease to $0.51. Thus, Company Y's bid would only be posted on thesystem once it exceeded $0.75. In some embodiments, the system can allowbidding content providers to set up alerts and/permissions to increaseits budget.

Allocation of a cell in the virtual grid can be by auction as describedabove. Any suitable auction form might be used, e.g., an Englishauction, a Dutch auction, proxy bidding, a sealed first-price auction, aVickery auction, a buyout auction, or a combinatorial auction. Theauction can be one with or without a reserve. Rights to a cell/time slotare typically, but not always, awarded to the highest bidder. Biddingcan be in real-time or time-delayed, and take place over acommunications network such as the internet. Any suitable means ofcommunicating bid information might be used, e.g., wired and/or wireless(e.g., RF, Bluetooth, or IR) communications systems.

Bid for placement can range from—highest bid, real time, minute, hourly,day, week, month, year, bid to lease, bid to purchase, bid to budget,bid to billboard, etc. Bidding on the cells could range in two or threedimensions. Bidding on the cells can range in altitude. Future abilityof bidding on integration of other advertising mediums. Bidding might beon an individual virtual cell or group of cells or for a “package,”e.g., a content provider bids on the rights to a content provisionpackage including: a text advertisement on a search engine, fixedbillboard, and a virtual cell. In addition, a bidding system might use abidding algorithm that interacts with the cells similar to the waybidding for stocks in a stock market system such as NASDAQ or the NYSEoperates. A bidding algorithm might utilize a variable such as aquantity correlated with demographic information of a certain cell orset of cells (e.g., population density, income per capita, spending percapita, spending on select goods or services per capita, number of usesof information playback devices per time period, or percent of types ofapplications used by information playback devices) and bidding activity.

In one auction variation, the bid increment is a predetermined minimumamount (i.e. a Company X must bid Company Y's bid plus at least the bidincrement in order for its bid to post). Although the current highestbid can be sealed, it preferably is always displayed to spur biddingcompetition. As an example of bidding on an auction-style listing,bidding for a cell can start at $1.00 and the bid increment can be setat $0.20. If Company X bids $3.00 for the cell, and no other bids havebeen placed, the system can display that the current winner is CompanyX, with a bid of $1.00, and that the minimum allowable bid is $1.20,which is equal to one bidding increment above the winning bid. IfCompany Y then bids $2.00 for the cell, the system will still displaythat the current winner is Company X, with a bid of $2.20, which equalsthe second-highest bid ($2.00) plus the bid increment amount ($0.20).The system will also display that the minimum allowable bid is $2.40,one bid increment above the winning bid. If Company Y then bids $5.00,the system will display that the current winning bidder is Company Y,with a bid of $3.20, which is equal to the second-highest bid ($3.00)plus the bid increment ($0.20). If Company Y were to win the auction, itwould have to pay the amount equal to the winning bid ($3.20), eventhough its previous bid was $5.00.

In one example of the operation of a cell-allocation system ofinvention, a content provider bids for the right to place content suchas information, incentives, and advertisements in one or more cellsanywhere in the world so that such content can be viewed on aninformation playback device such as a wired or wireless device running ascript that allows display of transmitted content. A content providercan access the system via the internet or other communications network.A user interface or webpage of the system can have a menu or series oftabs through which a content provider can navigate around the website. Acontent provider, after providing an authorized username and password,can click on a “Billboards” tab to bring up a webpage for creatingand/or managing particular campaigns and billboards. A campaign is usedto organize related billboards into groups. The user can add or deletecampaigns and enter a unique name for each campaign.

The Billboards page is arranged to allow a user to add, edit and deletebillboards. As an example, the Billboards page might include severalfillable fields for identifying and performing certain actions. Forexample, a billboard name field can be used to assign a name identifyinga particular billboard (e.g., a postal code). The Billboards page mightalso have a campaign selection field that allows a user to assign one ormore (e.g., 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, or more) campaigns to a particularbillboard. The Billboards page might also include a Billboard text fieldin which a user can enter additional text which can be displayed when aconsumer views the content on an information playback device.

A “Billboard Banner” field might also be included on the Billboardspage. The Billboard Banner can be filled with the first image aninformation playback device user sees when opening a certain applicationor website. In some embodiments, a content provider can upload an imagein a “billboard image” field on the Billboards page. The billboard imageis the image an information playback device user sees after clicking on(or otherwise selecting) the banner image. The banner image is generallysmaller (e.g., 314 pixels wide by 66 pixels high and in a JPEG format)than the billboard image (e.g., 314 pixels wide by 246 pixels high andalso in a JPEG format). Of course, the banner image and billboard imagecould be of any suitable size, and additional image fields could also beadded depending on the configuration of the system and informationplayback device.

The Billboards page might also include a “Web Link” field into which aURL can be entered. When an information playback device user clicks onthe Billboard image, the information playback device directs its user toa website associated with the URL. A “Map Identifier” field might alsobe included on the Billboards page. In this field, a content providercan enter the name of its business and/or the business' address whichcan be transmitted to a mapping application on an information playbackdevice. If a keyword (e.g., name of business) is entered into the MapIdentifier field, all or some of the business' locations in theinformation playback device vicinity can be displayed.

The Billboards page can also include a video link field and/or an audiolink field. A content provider can enter a URL into video link field.The URL can include a video file in a format such as an .MPG file (orany other suitable video file format) on a web server or link to a videofile such as a YouTube link. If an .MPG file is used, the video filewill be played in the information playback device's media player. If aYouTube link is provided, the YouTube application will be launched andthe video will be displayed through the YouTube application. Similarly,a content provider can enter a URL into audio link field. The URL caninclude an audio file in a format such as an .MPG file on a web server.If an .MPG file is used, the audio file will be played in theinformation playback device's media player.

A “Phone Number” field can also be provided on the Billboards page. Acontent provider can enter a telephone number into this field so that aninformation playback device user can call the content provider oranother party associated with the telephone number. In addition, theBillboards page might include an “Age Rating” field. By entering an agerating [e.g., 4+ (ages four years and older), 9+ (ages nine years andolder), 12+ (ages twelve years and older), 17+ (ages seventeen andolder), or 21+ (ages twenty-one and older)] in this field, the contentprovider can control or suggest which users are of an age suitable forthe content provided to an information playback device.

To navigate to individual billboards, a user can click on the campaignname in the campaign list to populate the billboard list with thebillboards attached to that campaign. The user can then click on abillboard's name to view, edit, or delete the billboard. When deleting abillboard, a confirmation window will be displayed to cancel or confirmthe deletion. If a billboard is currently in use in a Location (seebelow), the Location and Correlating bid will be placed on hold.

A content provider can click on the “Locations” tab to bring up awebpage that allows a user to select specific cells or groups of cellsin a virtual grid. Groups of cells can be organized in a hierarchalfashion such as Countries/Territories, States/Provinces, Cities/Regions,and Postal Codes. The Locations webpage is arranged to allow a user toselect groups of cells using a location browser or a map application. Inthe Location webpage, a user can first select a campaign to managelocations for (e.g., using a drop-down menu) and then select one or morelocations that the campaign will be associated with. A location browserapplication on the website can be organized in a tree structure that canbe expanded or collapsed in a parent/child arrangement. The top level inthe tree can be a country, the next level can be states or provinces,then cities/regions, and finally regions defined by a postal code (whichcan be a cell).

The Locations webpage can include a check box or other selectionfunction next to every parent and child location which allows a user toselect or de-select locations. If a user clicks on a location name inthe map on the webpage, a window will appear next to the cursor with acheck box allowing the user to add or remove the location using thatcheck box. The system can be arranged to provide multiple tools tonavigate the map. For example, a tool can allow a user to enter alocation in an “Enter Location” search box. The Enter Location searchfield allows a user to enter location information such as a country,territory, state, province, city, region, postal code or street address.The map can be moved by clicking the arrows in the border around the mapor using the slider tool located below the map to zoom in or out.Clicking on “Find Location” will update the position of the map, e.g.,to be centered on the location entered into the Enter Location searchfield.

When the map is zoomed to the cell level, a grid overlaying a street mapappears on the webpage. The grid divides the map into virtual cells eachlabeled with a unique identifier (e.g., in numeric, alphabetic, oralphanumeric format). A check box or other selector allows a user toselect or deselect cells. Clicking on the arrow next to a cell's checkbox expands the identifier window to reveal a radius variable field, theaverage daily impressions for that cell (i.e., average number of timesthe content is pushed to information playback devices in a cell), andsuggested minimum bid for that cell. When entering a number into theradius field, all the resulting cells that are within that radius willautomatically be selected and added to the user's selected locations. Inaddition, the “open rate” (the number of times the content is selectedby users of information playback devices in a targeted cell) can betracked and displayed.

The average daily impressions and suggested minimum bid can be updatedwhen the identifier window is expanded to provide real time results. Acolored box in the identifier window can be employed to graphicallyrepresent the bidding bracket currently taking place in the cell, e.g.,indigo for $0.10-0.20, blue for $0.21-0.30, yellow for $0.31-0.40,orange for $0.41-0.50, and red for $0.51 or more. When viewing the mapat the cell level, a color key can appear to illustrate the values foreach colored square. In other embodiments, other devices for displayingthe volume of activity might be used, e.g., a gradient such as an iconthat darkens as activity volume increases or an icon that grows in sizeor complexity as activity volume increases.

After managing locations, a user can save the selected locations or notaccept them (e.g., by selecting “undo changes”). Saving selectedlocations locks in the selected locations and allows a user to startbidding on those locations. Selecting “undo changes” reverts the systemto the previously saved locations, if any. When a user saves locationsand has removed a location that is currently in use in the biddingsection, a notification will ask the user to confirm the removal andnotify that this location will be removed from the bidding section.

For bidding on cells, a content provider can click on the “Bids” tab tobring up a webpage that allows a user to submit bids for the right toplace content within selected individual cells within the virtual grid,e.g., on a pay per impression (PPI) basis. Thus, content providers canplace a maximum budget on individual cells, and target consumers in arisk-free platform (i.e., once the budget is exhausted, no furthercharges will be incurred). The system can also be arranged so thatcontent providers do not pay for an impression unless and until anapplication associated with the impression is opened in a selected cell.

In the bids webpage, a user can choose a campaign it would like tomanage bids for. The campaigns can be presented in a drop-down menuabove the location list. After selecting the campaign, the locationsassociated with the campaign appear in the location list. After clickingon a location, a bid window appears on the webpage. In this window theuser can enter a daily budget for the selected location, a maximum bidper impression (Max Bid), a billboard to be associated with the selectedlocation, a target application and/or one or mobile website categories(Target Categories), and dates and times when the bid will be active.The daily budget is the maximum amount the content provider wants tospend for that location per day. When the maximum amount is reached,this location will no longer be active. Future means of targeting can bebased on one or more (e.g., 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, or 8) of the following:market segment to which a particular good or service is marketed; age;gender; geography; socio-economic grouping; technographic(characteristics & behavior) or any other combination of demographics;products; services; and usage.

The Max Bid entered determines how much the content provider will becharged every time an information playback device displays a billboardsbanner in an application or mobile website in the cell. This number canbe used to determine which content provider is the highest bidder forthe cell. A Choose Billboard area can display all the billboardsassociated with the campaign that has been selected. A content providercan choose (e.g., by highlighting or clicking on) the particularbillboard to be shown at the selected location.

The Target Categories section on the bids webpage allows a contentprovider to select or deselect which application categories and mobilewebsites it wants the selected content to appear on. This category canbe arranged to select all categories as a default. The billboardscheduling area on the webpage allows a content provider to select adate range for its bids on a location to be active. A content providercan also select what days of the week and within those days, what timesof the day a bid for a location will be active. After saving thesettings, the bid becomes active in the bidding system.

A content provider can also choose to put its bid on hold by selecting acheck box on the webpage. Putting a bid on hold freezes the bid untilthe box is deselected. Similarly to applying settings for an individualcell, the system might also be arranged to allow the foregoing settingsto be applied in a parent location encompassing multiple cells. Forexample, when settings are made for the location zip code 60601, thebids webpage can have a checkbox that when selected applies the parentsettings to a particular cell within the 60601 zip code. While thesettings will remain the same, the daily budget per cell can becalculated by dividing the total budget set for the parent location bythe number of cells selected. For example, if $1000 is set as themaximum daily budget for the location zip code 60601 and ten cellswithin the 60601 zip code are selected, the maximum daily budget percell would be $100. A content provider can override these setting bydeselecting the check box for using the parent locations settings, sothat a content provider can provide custom setting for an individualcell. The bids webpage can also include a reference map that can updateto graphically display a selected location on a map.

The system described herein might also be configured to provideapplication developers use of the cells for advertising theirapplications with little or no charge, e.g., for cells not allocated toa paying content provider. In the system, one or more cells/time slotsin the virtual grid can be assigned to an application developer.Information playback devices within the assigned cell/time slot candisplay a developer's banner advertisement which when selected by a usercan redirect the playback device to the application. The application caninclude one or more pay-per-impression advertisements supplied by thecell-allocation system's owner, and revenue from such pay-per-impressionadvertising can be shared by the application's owner and thecell-allocation system's owner.

The system can be arranged to provide application developers code andformat to place advertisements and share revenue. In this regard, thesystem can include an applications and sites webpage which an authorizeddeveloper can access over a communications network such as the internet.The applications and sites webpage is configured to allow a developer toview, edit, delete, and add applications, mobile websites, andpromotional content to their account. When adding a new application, adeveloper can enter a unique application name used to identify theapplication in an applications and sites list. A developer can, forexample, enter text information regarding the application which will beshown when an advertisement for the application is viewed in aninformation playback device. A developer might also choose a bannerimage and advertisement image for its application, as well as a mobileplatform option (type of information playback device) such as an AppleiPhone, Google's G1, or RIM's Blackberry Storm. A developer can alsoselect a language the application displays text in, e.g., English,French, Chinese, or Spanish.

The applications and sites webpage might also include an applicationcategory field that allows a developer to select an application category(or channel) such as social networking, communities, automotive,business, computing & technology, consumer electronics, health &wellness, current affairs & politics, digital culture, PC & video games,travel, contextual search, contextual search downloads, sports &recreation, portals, arts & entertainment, or news & information. Thebidding systems and methods described above can be arranged for biddersto bid on rights to place content selectively in one or more of thechannel categories. For example, the bidding system might be arranged sothat a bidder might be able to bid on only selected applications,channels, or network subsets (e.g., one or more of mobile telephonenetworks, transit networks, or mobile website networks) within a targetcell or set of cells.

In addition, a download link field might also be included in theapplications and sites webpage. A URL can be added to this field so thatwhen an information playback device user selects the download link usingthe device, the user will be directed to the link that is provided todownload an application. An age rating field which functions asdescribed above might also be included in the webpage. After saving theapplication to the system, a developer can review the informationentered and download a developer toolkit which contains code and toolsfor incorporating advertisements into its application. This code mightinclude a unique key for every application added to an account. Thesystem owner can control developer content transmission, e.g., so thatno advertisements are pushed to an information playback device until thesystem owner has approved a proposed application.

The applications and sites webpage can also allow a developer to add amobile website to the system. A mobile website page can contain fieldsin which a developer can add the name of a mobile website, textdescribing the site, a banner image, an advertisement image, a language,a website category, a website link, and an age rating. Information canbe added to these fields as described above for other aspects of thesystem. An information playback device in selected cells/time slots candisplay the banner image and can be activated by a user to display theadvertisement image. Selecting (e.g., clicking on) the advertisementimage (or in some cases the banner image) redirects the informationplayback device to the website link URL where the mobile website islocated.

In certain embodiments, the methods and systems of the invention canutilize mobile displays such as touch screen equipped displays. Apreferred mobile display can be of any suitable size and can include adigital display, a geolocation component for determining the location ofthe display (e.g., by longitude and latitude), and a component forcommunicating with a server including a database storing informationthat can be transmitted to the digital display. Mobile displays canrange in various sizes, can be installed internally or externally tovehicles (e.g., bicycles, automobiles, buses, trucks, taxis, trains,aircraft, and boats) or other various moving items (e.g., backpacks orclothing on a person). As a display enters a first cell as it movesthrough a grid, it can query and receive information (e.g., anadvertisement) from the server such that the display with playback thenewly acquired information. The information displayed can be determinedby the server according to the bidding process described above. As thedisplay leaves the first cell and enters a second cell, the informationdisplayed can change.

In one variation of the foregoing, the information on the mobile displaycan involve text messaging (e.g., using SMS or MMS applications). Forexample, the display can play a message (which can be location relevant;a merger of an information provider's content and the system provider'scontent; and/or include a physical or web address) that invites theviewer to text message an offer id number to a telephone number of thesystem or information provider (e.g., Text 1234 to 555-555-1234). Thesystem or information provider can then transmit more details of theoffer or a weblink to the mobile display, e.g., via a text message. Intouch screen equipped displays, a user can also perform various tasksusing the touch screen application, including, e.g., “see on a map,”“send to yourself,” “send to a friend,” “view video ad,” and “hear audioad.”

In certain embodiments, the methods and systems of the invention canutilize fixed displays such as digital billboards on the side ofhighways. A preferred fixed display includes digital display, acomponent for communicating with a server including a database storinginformation that can be transmitted to the digital display, a componentfor indicating the displays fixed location, and, optionally, a touchscreen interface. The fixed display can be configured to operatesimilarly to the mobile display described above.

The methods and systems of the invention might also incorporate a userreward program, wherein, for example, a viewer can collect points forclicking on content displayed on an information playback device. Thecollected points can be traded for goods and/or services. To use theprogram, a user would first have to create an account in a process thatwould include providing the system operator with his or her personal andperhaps demographic information. The system can be configured to trackthe users activities on the system such that content delivery can bespecifically targeted to the user based on these activities. Filters maybe implemented to determine if the user has completed the activityneeded to receive the reward points. A filter, for example, mightinclude a question in regards to the displayed content, enter a CAPTCHAcode, interactive coding, etc. When the user passes the filter, he orshe is rewarded points.

The methods and systems of the invention can utilize search engines. Oneexample of a search engine logic is: when a user enters a search keywordinto a search engine field, the resulting records are filtered by thecurrent cell in which the user is located, and the user can setpreferences on how many surrounding cells he or she would like to seeresults for. As another example, the system can serve advertisements andoffers that are filtered by the user's current cell location withrelation to the keywords entered into the search engine.

The methods and systems of the invention can also include otherfeatures. For instance, a cell lottery can be used wherein periodicallya cell is selected at random, and users of the cell during that periodwill receive a reward or discount such as application developersreceiving all of the revenue from that cell for that day, double rewardpoints, prizes, etc. In another variation, in cases where contentprovider has uploaded more than one offer in a campaign that targets thesame category, the offers can be randomly delivered to informationplayback devices in a selected cell. In some embodiments, default rules(e.g., a default image that the device has determined, a default imagethat the system provider has determined, automatically hide the contentdisplay area, etc.) are used if an information playback device cannotconnect to the internet and/or is not able to establish the device'slocation.

To offer one or more deals to a group of people within one or more cellsof a grid, a Group Deal can be created. The Group Deals allows thevarious systems described herein to offer discounts to groups of up to apredetermined number of people, so that they can collectively redeem anoffer within a cell. As an example: Mary's Cupcakes offers (in the cellsselected by the business) a free cupcake to the next 50 customers whoview the offer and visit its store to redeem the offer. In this example,Mary's Cupcakes would login to the system, select “buy the way (groupoffer)”, upload a message stating the offer, select the number ofcustomers to limit the offer to, select area on map, bid and post. Aperson in a given cell with participating applications and media outletswould view the Mary's Cupcakes offer, and if interested, could select“redeem” offer on his mobile display. In response, the system would givethe person an option to email the offer (e.g., a coupon) to him or showthe offer or coupon appearing on the mobile display in person at store.The system can also be configured to allow local businesses and othersto offer coupons through a grid within a cell that utilizes a bid systemwith the variable to control the amount of people that redeem the offer.

The system might also be configured to transmit “Create Charity Offers”within one or more cells of a grid so that the user of the mobiledisplay can make a donation in the amount of his choice to the charityof his choice each time someone claims a company's offer within a givencell of the grid.

In another aspect, the system can include a component to detect a mobiledisplay's IP address in order to pinpoint desktop or mobile computers inthe grid in order to determine cell logic to deliver relevantinformation.

The system might also be configured to allow a mobile display user toobtain loyalty deals, i.e., deals only offered to those mobile displayusers who have redeemed a threshold number of offers from a businesswithin one or more cells of a grid. For example, if store X wants itscustomers to buy 10 “special offers” over a given time, the customerselects “redeem” on his mobile device and to a database keeps a recordof redemption by that customer. After the customer buys 10 items in thismanner, a loyalty offer (e.g., a coupon, discount, or other reward) issent to the customer (e.g., directly to his mobile display device, bye-mail, by regular mail, etc.). In one variation, loyalty virtual punchcards are used in conjunction with one or more cells in a grid.Consumers are targeted loyalty offers and/or redemptions based on aconsumer stopping into the business and scanning a barcode (QR, etc.) ona poster, paper, package, or the like via scanner or camera. A consumermight also accumulate redeemable loyalty program points by checking intoone or more cells within a grid.

Any kind of organizing or offerings that include a “check in,” “likes,”or “step in” might be used. Barcodes, QR codes, NFC (near fieldcommunication), coupon codes, passwords, number/text identifications,etc. that can either be unique to a cell within a grid, and/or onlyactivated or “redeemed” in cells/locations determined by a user(advertiser) might be used in the systems of the invention.

Use of one or more cells within a grid can be tracked such that apattern of consumer purchasing or location behavior can be determined.The system can then make recommendations based on those patterns as theconsumer travels. For example, a consumer lives in Chicago and justtraveled to Miami. Based on the consumer's activity on Michigan Avenuein Chicago, the system would recommend that the consumer might enjoyLincoln Ave in South Beach. The system might also be used to createcustom “consumer segmentation” within a grid. As examples, it couldsegment a population as “soccer moms”, “concert goers”, or “businesstravelers” and target content according to such segmentation.

In the systems of the invention, goods and or services might be taggedor identified using barcodes, unique codes, UPCs and the like within oneor more cells of a grid in which mobile displays communicate online toidentify the price and/or location of the goods and/or services closestto a particular cell in a grid. For example, a consumer can scan or typein the UPC code of a product into a mobile display device. The systemcan then tag the product to a cell in a grid and then query the internetto see if there is a location near or within the cell, and then transmitto the mobile display device the closest point of purchase for theproduct.

The systems of the invention might also be configured to allow aconsumer to identify goods and/or services (through differentmeans—barcode, unique codes, UPC, etc.) within one or more cells of agrid and place those goods and/or services in a virtual “shopping bag.”Additionally, the systems might be configured to alert, make aware orrecall such identifiable goods and/or services within one or more cellsof a grid in a virtual “shopping bag”. For example, if a user is in LosAngeles and sees an ad (or saw it in a store) for a new brand ofcologne, the user can save that ad, tag the brand, and/or leave it inthe user's “bag”. If the user just traveled to New York and opens the“bag” or other saved file, the system will notify the user of where thesaved products/brands/interest might be found in one or more cells inNew York.

In other aspects of the invention, the systems described herein can beconfigured to allow social networking (e.g., sharing data,communicating, or social interaction) within a grid. For instance,“breadcrumbs” can be used within the system to share and view thingsthat a user's group of friends have a mutual interest in. The systemsmight be configured to transmit data based on location and theconsumer's interest and adjust as the consumer moves around a grid. Inone variation of the systems of the invention where a user is assigned aunique ID after registration, the ID can be used to associate the user'sinterests with his location. Additionally, this unique ID can be used toas “breadcrumbs around” grid “identifiers” for the user and his friends.The systems might also be configured such that a user can organize hisown data via cells he has selected to leave “breadcrumbs” in.

The systems of the invention can also be arranged to provide customerusers a percentage of revenue from online or in store purchases stemmingfrom an advertiser's offer made via the system. In another aspect, thesystems of the invention might be configured to offer a “placement topurchase” solution where information is sent to a user of a mobiledisplay device which causes the user to make a purchase based on thesent information sent. The systems of the invention might also offer auser the ability to organize data, content or information based on theuser's history (actions they have taken on offers, ads, content, etc.),user preferences, and/or an algorithm that indexes the user's socialnetwork on what is trending amongst the user and his friends in thearea. These trends come in the form of friends leaving “breadcrumbs” ina cell, friends posting on social networks in which a system of theinvention aggregates the content to determine location keywords andbrand/product keywords, and the users own posts.

The systems of the invention might also be arranged to providetime-limited incentive offers within one or more cells of a grid. Forexample, a mobile display can display to a user an offer from a storenear the mobile display's location, and require to user to redeem theoffer within 5 minutes of the offer first being displayed.

The systems of the invention might also be configured to work with amobile operating system wherein the function of a mobile display deviceusing the mobile operating system would relate to the devices locationwithin a grid. For example, content (e.g., weather, sports, offers,friends, etc.) displayed on the device via the mobile operating systemcould differ between cells in a grid and change as the device movedamong grids.

The systems of the invention might also be configured to organize andcommunicate within a grid with NFC (Near field communication), e.g., forcheck-in, information transfer, device pairing, work badge, coupons,offers, deals, incentive marketing, data collection, financialtransaction, etc.

Other Embodiments

It is to be understood that while the invention has been described inconjunction with the detailed description thereof, the foregoingdescription is intended to illustrate and not limit the scope of theinvention, which is defined by the scope of the appended claims. Otheraspects, advantages, and modifications are within the scope of thefollowing claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A non-transitory computer readable mediumcomprising software that when executed by a processor, causes theprocessor to perform the steps of: dividing a geographical area into avirtual grid comprising a plurality of cells; accepting bids for a cellwithin the plurality of cells from at least a first content provider anda second content provider; determining which content provider hassubmitted the winning bid for the cell; obtaining content submitted fromthe content provider submitting a winning bid for the cell; andtransmitting at least a portion of the obtained content to aninformation playback device located in the cell.
 2. The non-transitorycomputer readable medium of claim 1 wherein the software, when executedby a processor, causes the processor to perform the steps of: selectingone of the different advertisements based on the particular applicationrunning on the information playback device; and transmitting theselected advertisement to the information playback device; wherein theinformation playback device comprises a plurality of differentapplications, and the content comprises a plurality of differentadvertisements.
 3. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim1, wherein the cells of the plurality of cells each have about the samedimensions.
 4. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 1,wherein the cells of the plurality of cells are defined by longitude andlatitude.
 5. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 1,wherein the cells of the plurality of cells are hexagonal in shape. 6.The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 1, wherein thecells of the plurality of cells are square in shape.
 7. Thenon-transitory computer readable medium of claim 1, wherein the cells ofthe plurality of cells each define an area of 0.1 square kilometers inarea.
 8. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 1, whereinthe cells of the plurality of cells each define an area of 0.5 squarekilometers in area.
 9. The non-transitory computer readable medium ofclaim 1, wherein the cells of the plurality of cells are each defined bypopulation size.
 10. The non-transitory computer readable medium ofclaim 1, wherein the bids for the cell are for a time slot during whichthe portion of the obtained content is transmitted to an informationplayback device located in the cell.
 11. The non-transitory computerreadable medium of claim 1, to perform the step of: determining whichcontent provider has submitted the winning bid for the cell comprisesexecuting a bidding algorithm on the processor; wherein the softwarecomprises the bidding algorithm and the bidding algorithm uses aquantity correlated with demographic information of a certain cell. 12.The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 11, wherein thequantity correlated with demographic information of a certain cell isincome per capita.
 13. The non-transitory computer readable medium ofclaim 11, wherein the quantity correlated with demographic informationof a certain cell is population density.